Low-Cost Carbon Dioxide Generator for Cylinder-Free Cell Culture Incubators

所提出的技术是一种控制细胞培养箱中的气体气氛而不使用加压气瓶的低成本方法。该产品将作为细胞培养箱的辅助装置/附件，用于实验室，这些实验室希望无气瓶操作的便利性和安全性以及在宽范围内拨入氧气和二氧化碳设定点的灵活性。该提案具体提出了一种成本较低的二氧化碳生成化学方法，用于综合气体控制系统。哺乳动物细胞培养在基础医学研究、移植、组织工程、干细胞生产、疫苗生产、抗体生产和细胞分析中起着重要作用。用于哺乳动物细胞培养的标准培养箱通常使用加压气体混合物在142 mm Hg（18.6%）氧气和38 mm Hg（5%）二氧化碳下操作。在体内，CO2和O2的局部浓度根据器官、细胞位置和疾病状态而变化。可以探索这些气体浓度在细胞生理学中的作用，然后利用本文提出的方便、控制良好的细胞培养孵育器进行开发。干细胞、胚胎细胞和肿瘤细胞的研究需要较低浓度的氧气;较高浓度的氧气可能有利于培养多层组织，如皮肤、胰岛和组织工程产品。5%二氧化碳设定点历史上是由于通常使用含碳酸氢盐缓冲液的细胞培养基而出现的;迄今为止，对更多基于生理学的二氧化碳浓度的研究很少。Giner公司的总体产品目标是一个辅助单位，以商业孵化器，以提供可调，控制气体气氛（氧气，二氧化碳，氮气，湿度）使用电化学过程，以消除或添加氧气的系统和化学过程中添加二氧化碳。第一阶段的目标是开发一种产生二氧化碳的低成本方法，并将试验板二氧化碳发生器与无气瓶气体控制系统集成。商业潜力：细胞培养培养箱市场是巨大的，并在不断增长，2005年销售了16，000多个二氧化碳培养箱，全球销售额为1.12亿美元。所提出的技术将是实验室的优质辅助/附件单元，这些实验室希望无气瓶操作的便利性和安全性以及在宽范围内拨入氧气和二氧化碳设定点的灵活性。Giner将与一家制造商和一家分销商合作，将这项技术商业化。与公共卫生的相关性：申报技术是一种控制细胞培养箱中气体气氛的系统。这将加强涉及细胞培养的基础研究和商业生产，如癌症研究、移植、组织工程、干细胞、疫苗生产、抗体生产和需要专门气体气氛控制的细胞测定。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Low Cost Carbon Dioxide Generator for Cylinder-Free Cell Culture Incubators The proposed technology is a lower-cost method of controlling the gas atmosphere in cell culture incubators without the use of pressurized gas cylinders. The product would be an auxiliary unit/accessory to a cell culture incubator for laboratories that want the convenience and safety of no gas cylinder operation and the flexibility of dial-in oxygen and carbon dioxide set points over a wide range. The proposal specifically addresses a lower-cost chemical method of carbon dioxide generation for use in an integrated gas control system. Mammalian cell culture plays an important role in basic medical research, transplantation, tissue engineering, stem cell production, vaccine production, antibody production and cellular assays. Standard incubators for mammalian cell culture are typically operated at 142 mm Hg (18.6%) oxygen and 38 mm Hg (5%) carbon dioxide using pressured gas mixes. In vivo, the local concentration of both CO2 and O2 vary depending on the organ, cell position and disease states. The role of these gas concentrations in cellular physiology can be explored and then exploited with convenient, well-controlled cell culture incubators as proposed here. Lower concentrations of oxygen are required for research on stem cells, embryonic cells and tumor cells; higher concentrations may be advantageous for the culture of multilayer tissue such as skin, pancreatic islets and tissue engineering products. The 5% carbon dioxide set-point historically has arisen due to the common use of cell culture media with bicarbonate-based buffering; research on more physiologically-based carbon dioxide concentrations has been minimal to date. Giner, Inc.'s overall product goal is an auxiliary unit to commercial incubators to supply adjustable, controlled gas atmospheres (oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, humidity) using an electrochemical process to remove or add oxygen to the system and a chemical process to add carbon dioxide. The Phase I goal is to develop a low-cost method of generating carbon dioxide and to integrate a breadboard carbon dioxide generator with a cylinder-free gas control system. Commercial Potential: The cell culture incubator market is substantial and growing with over 16,000 carbon dioxide incubators sold in 2005 with $112 million in sales worldwide. The proposed technology would be a premium auxiliary/accessory unit for laboratories that want the convenience and safety of no gas cylinder operation and the flexibility of dial-in oxygen and carbon dioxide set points over a wide range. Giner will be partnering with a manufacturer and a distributor to commercialize the technology. RELEVANCE TO PUBLIC HEALTH: The proposed technology is a system to control the gas atmosphere in cell culture incubators. This will enhance basic research and commercial production that involves cell culture such as cancer research, transplantation, tissue engineering, stem cells, vaccine production, antibody production and cellular assays where specialized gas atmosphere control is required.